The Czech Visual Art Foundation Mánes

A relevant episode of our critical programme deals with the state of The Czech Visual Art Foundation and with recent (and still in progress) initiatives of art community aiming to find a meaningful way out of the current alarming situation of not only the above mentioned institution.
The building SVU Mánes in Prague has embodied unfortunate socially-political events and processes. It was established in the 1930s to serve to a wide spectrum of artists and artistic activities but it has been currently treated in a completely unprecedented way resulting from unclear intentions of a very limited and impervious group of people.
The documentary tries to clarify the history of the Visual Artists Union Mánes and the Czech Visual Art Fund with stress primarily on privatization and transformation period in the 1990s. At the same time it also documents activities of artists and theoreticians united in the initiative Mánes for Artists who are not indifferent to a completely illegitimate way of treating the cultural heritage.
The documentary shows the art community struggle for its rights but it might also be regarded as a case study of hasty changes that occurred in the Czech society and politics during the 1990s and affected our culture and society for a long time.